Synopsis

Luton Town may have dropped through the trap door in May 2009, exiting the Football League for the first time in 89 years, but this was no ordinary demotion. Mismanagement and financial distress led to unprecedented points penalties, which saw the club plunge like a broken elevator. Back in 2005-06 they briefly topped the Championship, but just three years later finished 71 places lower in League rankings. No club has ever suffered such a sharp decline, let alone one with recent top-flight experience and five Wembley visits since the late 1980s. This remarkable story is told in words, figures, and photographs. Every Luton first-team match between 2004 and 2009 is recorded in statistical detail, alongside a brief match report of all 265 games played. Luton Towns drop through the trap door in 2009 was extraordinary. In all competitions, the Hatters actually won more games than they lost in 2008-09, and even won a thrilling FL Trophy final at Wembley. The Hatters plunged from 6th in the Championship (footballs second tier) to the bottom of League Two (the fourth tier) in just 22 traumatic months. They became by far the biggest club to be demoted from the Football League. How did it happen? Journalist and life-long fan Rob Hadgraft will tell you. This book provides an ideal companion to Hadgrafts book Luton Town: Staring into the Abyss, which examined in detail 12 crises that crippled this resilient club in the last 50 years.